Devdas and its near-twin, Parineeta

Here's what happened: I watched Devdas (Bhansali's version), and then a little while later I watched Parineeta. And I had a slight sense of deja vu. The stylistic feel of the movies was different (I really don't think anyone is quite like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, love him or loathe him), but there were definite echos as far as story goes. Turns out both movies are adaptions of novels by the same writer, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. I wouldn't judge an author's entire set of works by only two, but these two certainly dealt in similar characters and situations. Both featured childhood next-door neighbors and friends who grow up together and in love with each other, and the complications brought by the differing social statuses of their families.

Film: Devdas

Year: 2002

Stars: Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit

Directed by: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

How I watched it: On DVD delivered by Netflix
Short answer to "Did I like it?": Yes. With an exclamation point. Yes!

I was, quite simply, mesmerized by this film. I have read complaints about it before and since watching it, and I can definitely see how the opulent sets and the heightened tone could be not to everyone's tastes, but it worked beautifully for me. (One peeve--people who complain that it was "unrealistic." That's like attending the opera and harping on how it's so unrealistic to think people would sing everything to each other, and what's with the horned hats? Bhansali doesn't seem to go in for realism. It's a choice, not a blunder.)

Every frame is shot with the maximum aesthetic effect in mind. The music is delicious and the dancing is simply stunning. Aishwarya and Madhuri are the best I've ever seen them, and SRK is made for the over-the-top melodrama that Bhansali relishes, but he's not obnoxiously frenetic here. The story is sad, but a very cathartic sad, a sad that feels like tears over beautiful poetry.

If you like beauty and spectacle in your Bollywood, this is a must-watch. And, in case it wasn't clear, well, it has Aishwarya Rai AND Madhuri Dixit DANCING. Even together, once.

* * * * *

Film: Parineeta
Year: 2005
Stars: Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt
Directed by: Pradeep Sarkar
How I watched it: On DVD delivered by Netflix
Short answer to "Did I like it?": Yes. Yes, I did.

I stayed up too late watching this movie. Apparently, it is dangerous to assume I will be able to turn off the movie at intermission and wait until the next day. It didn't happen. I was having too much fun staring at Vidya being all beautiful and riveting and Saif being all intense and brooding and Sanjay Dutt being all gentle and noble.

There are several similarities to Devdas here, but the music and dancing were far, far inferior. (Was there any dancing? Now I can't really recall. There was an interesting and fun item number by Rekha, sung to the tune of Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On." No, really.) However, there is much less altered reality and general over-the-top-ness, if that sort of thing bothers you (although the climax does have more than a touch of melodrama.) Also, this one has

 (SPOILER ALERT!) 

a happy ending. Sort of. Depending on whether you think Saif's character is basically a decent guy who just needed to get out from under his father's thumb and wake up to what was going on, or whether you think he is mostly a controlling and abusive whiner. I could go either way by the time the film wound to its close, so while I enjoyed it, the vacillating sense of whether or not I was happy with the outcome kept it from being a clear winner. Not that it really could have been any other way, as it turned out, but still.

I did absolutely love Vidya Balan in this. She was fabulous and flawless. I also loved her character, who could be sometimes strong and sometimes weak, firm as well as needy, clear-headed except when absolutely foolishly driven by emotion. You know, a complex, real human being.

Somewhat Soporific Saawariya

Saawariya is a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also did one of my favorites, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Saawariya is a dream-like, fantasy film set in an entirely fabricated world, and it has Bhansali's stamp of visual artistry on it.

There is a lot of beauty in this movie. However, sometimes perhaps Bhansali forgot the difference between creating a painting, or a series of paintings, and making a movie. In places Saawariya was so slow it was like watching a painting dry, and in other places the threads of the story frayed until it entirely ceased to make sense.

Saawariya is set in a make-believe world, in a city that is not any real city, just a beautiful backdrop for the story. Ranbir Kapoor plays Raj, who falls in love with the beautiful Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) who is pining for her own heart's desire to return to her (her absent love is played by Salman Khan, in a bit of a cameo here). Raj meets Sakina walking through the city and grows obsessed with her. She first wants nothing to do with him, then befriends him, but tells him she is waiting for the man she loves to come back. But he is sure, because his feelings for her are so strong, that she belongs with him. All that remains is to convince her, right?

There is also a small role here for Rani Mukerji, who performs the best dance number in the movie. (Yay Rani!)

There are some similarities between this movie and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, but I much prefer HDDCS. Now, HDDCS is not a perfect movie by any means. It is filled with melodrama and suffers from some poor directing choices in places. But it is undeniably alive, and so heartfelt, whereas Saawariya feels distant and a little cold. I didn't feel I really knew any of the people in the movie by the time I got to the end of it. Nor did I really care about them or the choices they ultimately made. This is a sharp contrast to my reaction to HDDCS, which I was very invested in. Saawariya can also be, quite frankly, very dull in places. There is a lot of the young couple wandering slowly around the beautiful set, talking, but not getting anywhere with it.

But I did discover something interesting when I watched Saawariya. I discovered that I don't much care for Ranbir Kapoor, at least when he performs in an exuberant or quirky role (I did like him very much in Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year, but that was a very low-key performance). Which goes a long way toward explaining why I couldn't get into Barfi, in addition to what I mentioned in my post about it. He is very talented and performs very well, which is why I didn't immediately think it was his performance putting me off at all, but now having seen both Barfi and Saawariya it clicked for me: he sells it, but I don't like what he's selling. When he tries to turn on the charm, it turns me right off. My working theory is that he's too technical. He is a Kapoor, after all, part of that powerful Bollywood dynasty, and has been steeped in it his entire life, no doubt. He knows exactly what he's doing. He is a fine-tuned Bollywood-performance instrument. But I don't feel any heart behind it.

Well, maybe I'll see something later that will change my mind!